Arrest made in fatal Somerset hit-and-run accident

Police have arrested a Somerset man who is accused of leaving the scene of a fatal hit-and-run crash Tuesday night on Lepes Road. Author-ities say Adam C. Cooper, 34, 386 Newhill Ave., struck and killed Kerri Harrison, 35, while she and her husband, Tracey Harrison, 42, were walking on the residential ...

Police have arrested a Somerset man who is accused of leaving the scene of a fatal hit-and-run crash Tuesday night on Lepes Road.

Author-ities say Adam C. Cooper, 34, 386 Newhill Ave., struck and killed Kerri Harrison, 35, while she and her husband, Tracey Harrison, 42, were walking on the residential street just before 8 p.m. Tracey Harrison was also struck, but his injuries were not described as serious, according to police reports.

Police officers found a detached front license plate at the scene that led them to Cooper’s residence. After officers spoke with his father, Cooper turned himself in to the Somerset Police Department. He arrived at the police station driving a black Ford Explorer with front-end damage.

“You can clearly see the body print on the hood and the damage to the vehicle,” Somerset police Chief Joseph Ferreira said during a Wednesday press conference.

The Somerset Police Department seized Cooper’s vehicle and his cellphone to see whether he had been calling or texting at the time of the crash. Ferreira said he did not have any further information as to what investigators found on Cooper’s phone.

Cooper, who is charged with leaving the scene of an accident with death resulting, was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail after being arraigned Wednesday in Fall River District Court. If convicted, Cooper faces anywhere from one to 10 years in state prison. Authorities said Cooper could face more charges, including negligence, as the investigation progresses.

Cooper was on probation in a pending marijuana distribution case from Taunton District Court. The Probation Department there has issued an arrest warrant charging Cooper with violating the terms of his probation, prosecutors said.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Cahillane said during Cooper’s arraignment that his criminal record includes two prior arrests for operating under the influence, as well as operating to endanger, shoplifting and larceny, and marijuana and drug possession charges from Rhode Island.

Cooper told Somerset police that he was driving to a CVS Pharmacy to pick up a prescription for antibiotics when he struck Tracey and Kerri Harrison around 7:56 p.m. Tuesday. Cooper said he panicked, fled the scene and drove around until his father called him and said police were looking for him. Cooper also said he had smoked marijuana six hours before the crash, but he passed a field sobriety test at the police station, Ferreira said.

Authorities said Cooper struck the couple from behind while driving west on Lepes Road. Kerri Harrison was forced onto the vehicle’s hood before hitting the ground. The responding police and firefighters performed CPR on Harrison, who was unconscious and not breathing, and transported her to Charlton Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 8:33 p.m.

Harrison was a mother and well-respected third-grade teacher at Forest Avenue Elementary School in Middletown, R.I. Rosemarie Kraeger, the superintendent of schools in Middletown, notified parents early Wednesday morning of Harrison’s death. Kraeger described Harrison as a “dedicated teacher, mother and wife.”

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“Kerri just knew how to bring out the best out of every student,” Kraeger said. “She was a great colleague to her fellow teachers. She was outstanding in every way.”

Harrison had taught in the Middletown public schools since 2003. She also worked on curriculum and was previously a special education teacher at Joseph H. Gaudet Middle School in Middletown.

Kraeger said school officials notified the parents of Harrison’s students Wednesday morning to give them the option of keeping their children home. The Middletown School District is also arranging for guidance counselors, school psychologists and social workers to meet with the students and teachers at the Forest Avenue School.

“We really saturated the school,” Kraeger said. “And we will do that for the rest of the week and however long our staff and students need it.”

Meanwhile, during Cooper’s arraignment Wednesday, defense attorney Don Friar said Cooper is a Somerset High School graduate, is married and works as a cook at the Kozy Nook restaurant in Westport. Friar said the incident was “a horrible accident.” Cooper’s father, who attended the arraignment, declined to speak to reporters.

Paul Kitchen, a resident at 267 Lepes Road, said he heard a loud noise Tuesday night that sounded like something had struck his house, though the crash happened across the street. He went outside, saw a woman lying on the ground and a man crying over her. He tried to help the couple, and told his son to call 911. There was no vehicle in sight.

“By the time I got out of the house, he was gone,” Kitchen said of the driver, adding that he never heard any tires screeching. He noted that there were also no skid marks in the road.

A bouquet of flowers was placed Wednesday near the spot where the Harrisons were struck.

Lepes Road was repaved about six to eight weeks ago, and Kitchen said he has seen several vehicles speeding through the quiet residential neighborhood to avoid the traffic lights on Route 6. Kitchen said his son and a neighbor were recently clipped by vehicles driving faster than the neighborhood’s 35 mph speed limit.

“It’s really bad out here on the weekends. You can’t even go out there it’s so bad,” Kitchen said, adding that several elderly couples walk through the neighborhood every day.

“They have to be careful,” Kitchen said.

Ferreira said the Somerset Police Department has received several complaints about vehicles speeding on Lepes Road.

“We do what we can with the manpower we have to enforce (the speed limit),” Ferreira said, adding that the accident remains under investigation by the Somerset Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police Accident Reconstruction Team.

Tuesday night’s incident is the second fatal hit-and-run this year in Somerset. On June 14, around 11:30 p.m., police say Richard Reis, 35, of Fall River, struck a motorized wheelchair operated by 65-year-old James “Jimmy” Moore on Southway Drive. Moore later died. Police arrested Reis at his Fall River home a few days later.

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On Tuesday, at Fall River District Court, Reis pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident death resulting, and he was sentenced to two years in jail, with one year to serve and the balance suspended for five years.

Cooper is scheduled to return to court Nov. 13 for a pretrial hearing.